Thursday 26 July 2012

to the park!

Lydia's good friend Joshua has his claim to fame in singing the well known chart topper, "Chips and goodies"     on youtube (see below), and here is a quick proof...chips disappear very quickly when you let Lydia and Joshua get their hands on them. :)  Even baby Benjamin is trying to get his share of chips...but fortunately Markus isn't old enough to join the fight.  He is just glad to be out and about!


Here is Joshua's greatest hit...Chips and Goodies!  Lydia loves this clip...

Sunday 22 July 2012

summer services

Summertime has given us an unexpected joy; having our church services out at the nearby lake!
The building we usually rent is closed all summer, so we get to bask in the beauty of God's creation and worship God.  
 For Lydia this is a great temptation...how can you come to such a sweet lake and not be able to play in the water the whole time?!  But she sure does enjoy playing with her other little church friends there.
 Ahhh, the beauty and the sweet fellowship.

Sommar ger oss en ovantad glädje, att har Gudstjänst utomhus vid sjön!
Lokalen som vi brukar hyra är stangt, så får vi njuta av Guds skapelse och lovsjunger honom dar ute istället.
Det är en stor frestelse för Lydia...hur kan man kom till en så fint sjön och inte leka i vattnet hela tiden??!
Men hon gillar verkligen att leka men hennes kyrk-kompisar. 
Ahhh, vilket finhet och fina vänner. 

Monday 9 July 2012

rabarbarsaft : rhubarb juice!



Americans think they have seen it all, but this one was new for me. Just got a recipe for Rhubarb juice, plus a big bag of rhubarb...so here we go....

1. Start by throwing together some rhubarb, sugar, lemons, and "tartaric acid."

And some boiling water and mix.

Sit for 24 hours!


2.  Sieve them out, and you're done.

Look at that great pink color.
Theoretically, you should have a fancy smanchy sieve like this, and then you should bottle it all fancy and give it to your friends.
But I just freezed it in.   Good stuff.  Tangy but sweet.  And a great way to use up your rhubarb. 

Recipe: 
2 Liters Rhubarb, partially peeled and diced. 
2 lemons, finely sliced. 
1/2 Liters water. 
1/4 Liter sugar. 
1 teaspoon tartaric acid. 

Saturday 7 July 2012

Midsommar

This is my first time celebrating Swedish midsommar, a day which marks the longest day of the year in Sweden with lots of fun (and some terrible paganistic) traditions.  Let's see here...

1.  Make a flower crown.  That was right up my alley, although I have a long way to go in improving...

My sweet mother in law, Monica, had fun teaching me...and it all starts with a good wire frame.
And Markus just hung out in the high chair and cheered us on!
Go out in the yard and pluck a bunch of weeds (whatever is in bloom, I mean). 
Here we have some hundkex (dog crackers??), daisies, clover, buttercups, and some other unknowns. 

Go send Lydia out to play in the sandbox...(she loves her playful uncle Jonas)
I thought it was fun to see the mess I made, plus the baby toys and other stuff mixed in....
When Lydia was done playing in the sandbox, I managed to keep her distracted for a good long time with soapy water that she could pour out and do whatever with.  (One of the disadvantages of an apartment life, no freedom to play with water!)
And this is what you get!  I thought these photos were so funny I just threw a whole bunch up on the blog here.  Enjoy!

Markus: "Ooh, I feel a new toy here on my head...reaching reaching....I got it!"
"I knew it, it is a new toy! How does it work?"
"I bet if I eat it, I will learn more about it."  (While his cousin's flower crown has fallen down on her nose and Lydia is obediently wearing her flower crown for about 30 seconds before casting it off.)
"It doesn't taste so good..."
"You guys are gonna use these pictures against me one day, aren't you?"
"Looks like some pieces fell on my lap here...I wonder if i can eat them?"
(Look at our sweet Lydia!)
....a little while later...."Am I still wearing this thing??"
And of course, don't forget the other nice thing about midsommer....friends and family visiting together!
And a few things I forgot to take photos of....strawberry cake, pickled fish and new potatoes.  

Wednesday 4 July 2012

super babies

I want to do this with Markus!    Any votes for which ones I should do?















Systematic Theology, Chapter 39

*Just a reminder that this study of Wayne Grudem's book, Systematic Theology, is not by any means me teaching, but rather a simple sum...